ALBANY — The Saratoga County communities of Halfmoon, Ballston and Malta have grabbed the lion's share of the Capital Region's growth.

The Capital District Regional Planning Commission — which covers Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties — noted that between 2010 and 2017 those communities posted largest residential gains: Halfmoon's population rose by 13.5 percent, Ballston's by 12.8 percent, and Malta's 9.3 percent.

Of the top 10 municipalities that gained population, six were in Saratoga County: Moreau gained 5.8 percent more residents with Saratoga Springs and Wilton following with 5.4 and 5.2 percent, respectively.

"There are a lot of reasons: taxes, popularity, location, school districts," said the commission's Senior Planner Dan Harp. "This has been going on for decades in Saratoga County, ever since the construction of the Northway. Growth shifted away from Bethlehem and Guilderland and went north."

Harp said the commission was surprised by the 4.4 percent growth in Cohoes since 2010. That translates to 707 new residents.

"We can't tell you why," Harp said. "We suspect that over the last 10 or 15 years, people want to move back to the cities — places where they can walk to where they live, work and eat. Cohoes is centrally located, near Albany and Troy, and affordable."

Mayor Shawn Morse said that the growth in Cohoes is part of a concerted effort to revitalize the downtown and to provide a hefty number of market-rate apartments.

"We are a small city nestled closed to everything in the region," Morse said. "We are building a utopian bedroom community — a small, safe city with all of the amenities. It's starting to feel like Saratoga. People are flocking to Cohoes, and we are going to continue to grow and grow and grow."

Saratoga Springs and Cohoes were the only two cities to see an uptick in population. Albany's population has remained flat with 395 new residents or .04 percent increase. Schenectady has lost 510 residents, a drop of .08 percent, and Troy has seen 564 move out, a drop of 1.1 percent.

"Barring any significant changes," the commission report reads, "the cities are likely to experience modest population change through 2020."

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Bethlehem is still gaining population, and ranks No. 7 on the growth chart with a boost of 5.3 percent or 1,788 new residents. Brunswick also added residents, with an 8 percent increase in population to rank No. 4 on the list. Colonie also gained with a 2.3 percent increase. No communities in Schenectady County made the top 10.

For years, Clifton Park (pop. 36,737 as of last year) topped the charts for population growth. The trend, however, has slowed as the town focuses on preserving open space and refining its business-oriented Town Center Plan, which now includes a 37-acre park. Expanding housing developments is not a priority.

"Basically, we have taken steps to reduce the amount of housing units over time," Supervisor Phil Barrett said. "That's been a long-range plan. It makes the housing units we have more valuable because there are less of them."

Halfmoon's population, based on Census figures, has grown from 21,535 in 2010 to 24,436 in 2017. In the same years, Ballston has grown from 9,776 to 11,023. Malta has gone from 14,765 residents to 16,142.

Halfmoon Supervisor Kevin Tollisen said that people want to live in his town because of low taxes and infrastructure.

Top 10 in population growth

Halfmoon: 13.5 percent

Ballston: 12.8 percent

Malta: 9.3 percent

Brunswick: 8 percent

Moreau: 5.8 percent

Saratoga Springs: 5.4 percent

Bethlehem: 5.3 percent

Wilton: 5.2 percent

Cohoes: 4.4 percent

Colonie: 2.3 percent

(Source: Regional Planning Commission)

"We invest in infrastructure," Tollisen said. "We just put in $2 million in water lines and repaved the road of an entire development on the north side of town. Those are the types of things that people want."

Tollisen said that he expects Halfmoon will continue to grow and that it will work with the state Department of Transportation to improve roads and traffic flow, his main concern.

Harp said as Clifton Park has reached its limit for housing developments, residents are moving into the town's bordering communities.

"Development has to go somewhere," Harp said. "Developers are looking for cheap land and Saratoga County has marketed itself well."

Development does heighten concerns from those who already live in the booming towns. Ballston residents defeated a referendum for a sewer line on Route 50 — not only because of the tax increase but because residents feared it would attract more development.

In Malta, residents are distressed by the number of apartments, many of which were built in Ellsworth Commons on Route 9 and remain empty. This sparked the Malta Town Board to rezone, clarifying what is allowed in both the business district and residential areas, with an eye toward expanding commercial areas and reducing multi-family units.

"GlobalFoundries has been transformational for Malta," said Town Board Member Tim Dunn. "It's had an impact on the town, the county and the region. We don't want the town to be purely residential. We are trying to ... have a greater balance between commercial and residential, so people can shop and work where they live."

The Malta changes include rezoning Route 9 and Route 67 to commercial use and creating buffers between commercial and residential areas. Like Clifton Park, Malta is also considering preserving open spaces and had done so with a 35-acre parcel on Route 9.

Harp said it's hard to say how much growth is too much, or what kind is best. He said that the only thing all planners can agree on is that unplanned growth is risky.

"Thirteen percent growth with a good plan is fine," Harp said. "Four percent growth with no plan is a problem. It's all about how growth is managed."